"After Birth Abortion", a Dangerous Dialogue Begins!

We live in a time of amazing and previously unimaginable dialogue. Some astounding subjects have entered into the daily lexicon, words and phrases that were either flights of fancy or beyond belief as little as one  generation ago. Who, living in the 50's would have seriously thought the world-wide web, wi-fi, smart phones, blue-tooth and streaming video would be realities in their time? Who could have imagined the impact home computers would have on us as a culture? Email? facebook?

As wondrous as our times are, there is a grave downside to all this instant communication and data-overload. Radical new ideas have become routine. Challenges to think differently have become 

de rigueur, no longer confined to college campuses and smoky, dark coffee houses that catered to  pseudo-philosophers of their day. Instead, our discussions and dialogue are carried out on a world-wide stage, hammered and fashioned in an environment where everyone's opinion carries weight whether informed on the subject or not. We get swept away in a growing tide of popular opinion, our thoughts, sometimes our morals, heavily influenced by instant polls and a burgeoning groundswell of challenges as to what is acceptable or permissible. What was previously labeled as marginal has somehow mutated into to what is now demanded. The minority opinion now seems to rule the masses, chastising them and vilifying them in the name of change and culturally shifting norms, all driven by stream of consciousness thinking and the open exchange of ideas and opinions. What once seemed like an ideal has become an albatross around our collective necks. 

63 years ago, the major issue in the presidential election was that John  F. Kennedy was Catholic. According to the thinking of the time, that could have derailed his chances at getting elected. Abortion clinics, same-sex marriages, free porn, designer drugs, openly homosexual bishops and birth control in our schools were all notions that would have startled and alarmed the average person on the street. 

One by one, these issues rose up. At first, they were preposterous, the general public shaking their head and remarking at  the unlikelihood of that ever happening in their time. As the dialogue ensued, radical thought gave way to open discussion which gave way to the idea that the times they are a-changing which eventually gave way to tolerance. finally morphing into acceptance as the norm. 

This is how moral decay works. At first, it's a dirty spot that gets wiped away. It keeps coming back, growing each time like a car rusting from the inside out until the corrosion is so overwhelming that the situation seems hopeless, then accepted as a reality we have to live with. In time, we adapt, looking back and convincing ourselves that old car wasn't all that great anyway, it was time for something new. It all happens so gradually that we never notice that it wasn't the car that was the problem, it was the corrosion.

In this light, a new phrase has entered into our dialogue. Mark my words, as chilling as it sounds to us, given the history of changing moral values and the rapidly accelerating pace of those changes, our children will have a completely different reaction to this phrase than we do. The phrase is "after birth abortion". It's so unthinkable, it has to roll over in the mind for a few moments for its full impact to be understood. Today, it is as unimaginable as the litany of changes mentioned earlier were unimaginable just one generation ago. 

That serious academic dialogue on this subject can even take place is a sign that our moral compass is askew. We are skidding, at a break-neck speed, down a steep slope of ambiguity toward the value of all life and a total disintegration of anything resembling family values. How far can we be from a time when serious discussion ensues concerning the relative value of grandma and the pros and cons of ending the inconvenience of having her around?

Sound shocking? Are you thinking, "Never! Not in our time!" Take a look at Dr. Al Mohler's column on after birth abortion. 

The world needs the church to pray, folks. The world needs the truth of God's word. Popular opinion, though, seems to be rising up against both. Not too long ago, saying you were a Christian seemed to be a good thing, socially acceptable even expected in most parts. Today it is unpopular and taken as backward and intolerant. Tomorrow, it may well be a label that evokes instant instant hatred. Take a look at 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12. 

The corrosion has begun. Lord Jesus, come quickly.